The present invention relates to the screening of objects in-transit and materials, for security purposes (i.e. explosives detection).
More particularly, the invention provides an adjustable computerized system suitable for use at airports, seaports, land terminals, distribution centers, railway terminals, border crossings or other transit terminals, in order to achieve maximal efficiency and detection reliability, by adjustment of the screening process of any specific object to its risk factor in conjunction with the characteristics of the available in-line detection equipment.
The words object, cargo, items, materials, luggage, and baggage as used in the present specification refer to any object being transported by land, sea or air, whether or not there is an accompanying passenger. Such object can be a pallet, an air pallet, a container, a sea container, a truck-load, a storage tank, bulk materials, luggage, baggage, a bag, a suitcase, a rucksack, a parcel, an envelope and the like, any of which are to be transported by bus, lorry, train, ship or aircraft.
The words passenger, shipper, sender and/or the like as used in the present specification refer to any type of an individual/entity involved in the transit process, whether passenger, shipper, sender, intermediate warehouse, fulfillment center, distribution center, manufacturer, freight forwarder, shipping agency, etc.
It is an unfortunate fact of life in present-day transportation that objects need to be screened for security purposes, typically for the prevention of hijackings and destruction of means of transportation (aircraft, ship, train, bus etc.) by explosives, as well as eliminating explosives smuggling. The events of Sep. 11, 2001 clearly indicate that terror organizations will exploit any visible security gap, and there is an urgent need to close any such gap, The transportation area is widely recognized as a high priority target and huge resources are allocated for terror prevention. Screening is also helpful in reassuring peaceful passengers, that it is safe to travel.
Various known machines are able to detect metal objects, or to identify weapons, or to detect explosives materials and even minute traces thereof. Some devices are based on X-ray inspection, for example the apparatus disclosed by Dennis in U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,346. The known technologies enable thorough check of the belongings of each and every passenger before take-off.
However, highly sensitive screening is typically slow, thus conveying every suitcase through a high detection rate machine consumes much time, requires multiplication of very expensive and slow machinery, creates large inconvenience for passengers and shippers, and require huge manpower and precious space resources.
A system of this type is disclosed by Yamazaki in U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,639. An airport baggage receiving and handling method receives a passenger's baggage and identifies and processes the baggage and relates the baggage to the owner thereof.
The disadvantage of prior art systems is in that all passengers are treated equally. Indiscriminate application of security measures lead to absurd results, such as the confiscation at an airport of a nail file from a 68-year-old grandmother, and the frisking of people at a bank branch who have been customers at this bank branch for 40 years. Prior art systems are based on the premise that as the percentage of terrorist attempts to destroy a passenger plane is so low relative to normal business, only small percentage is sufficient to ensure detection of the extremely small number of terrorists and their explosives. The recent Aviation Security Bill (USA), released on Nov. 19, 2001, specify a mandatory 100% screening of all checked baggage.
The British Airport Authority has developed a multi-phase configuration of 100% baggage screening), which is in operation in more than 20 airports but has a number of major disadvantages. The system includes a sequence of automated explosives detection machines and manual alarm-resolution workstations. It is widely recognized that the probability of detection achieved by this configuration is a very low due to the combined effect of high-speed/low-sensitivity machines at the income point and the “dilution effect” caused by faulty manual alarm resolution when thousands of baggage units are to be inspected by an over-fatigue operator during an 8 hour working shift.
No solution has been found to the inherent conflict between a high security level and high throughput.
The cost of a 100% screening system in a “stand-Alone” method is high in labor, space and equipment, and passengers are inconvenienced by being shifted from the regular check-in process. A further disadvantage of this prior art baggage screening method is that the system is visible to the public, a fact that is raising political claims of discrimination and at the same time helps the terrorists intelligence.